Emergency Order No. 2-KS-4-15-15 Issued at: Kodiak, Monday, April 13,
2015
Effective Date: 12:01 a.m., Sunday, May 31, 2015
Expiration Date: 11:59 p.m., Monday,
August 31, 2015 unless superseded by
subsequent emergency order.
EXPLANATION:
This emergency order prohibits the filleting, mutilating and de-heading of king salmon at-sea by
marine boat anglers returning to Kodiak road system ports from May 31 – August 31, 2015.
REGULATION:
The provisions of 5 AAC 64.030. Methods, means, and general provisions-Finfish (e) are added by
this emergency order and become effective at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, May 31, 2015. Under this
emergency order, the following provisions are effective:
5 AAC 64.030. General Methods, means, and general provisions-Finfish.
(e) In the Kodiak Area, marine boat anglers returning to any port on the Kodiak road system, may
not fillet, mutilate, or de-head any sport caught king salmon until they have been offloaded, unless
they are preserved or have been consumed on board.
Sam Cotten,
Commissioner
Monday, April 13, 2015
Family of black bears is again roaming Government Hill
For the second year, a family of five black bears is roaming Government Hill, a densely populated neighborhood one bridge away from downtown Anchorage.
“We don’t have one bear that’s a problem,” said Rebecca Rogers, who lives in a bluff-side home overlooking what she says has become a bear highway. “We have five.”
Rogers says an adult female sow lunged at her young Rottweiler on Friday afternoon, the first sighting of the year in the neighborhood.
“She swatted at my dog,” Rogers said. “She was standing on hind legs, popping her jaws, saliva coming out.”
Then, on Sunday, the sow and four yearling cubs were seen near Cedar and Dogwood streets on the east side of the neighborhood.
The community council tweeted a warning.
“ALERT!” read Sunday’s tweet. “5 black bears are actively roaming in Government Hill.”
By early afternoon Sunday, the bears had gathered in a ravine near the Northpointe Bluff subdivision.
One bear climbed a tall alder while the others shuffled around, eventually finding their way to garbage bins.
Residents said the bears appear to be the same ones that spent most of last summer on Government Hill, though wildlife biologists couldn’t confirm that Sunday.
“Being right next to base, a lot of bears move in and out of Government Hill,” said David Saalfeld, a regional wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “But it could be the same bear and cubs. The bear last year had ear tags.”
Government Hill neighbors and the bears have coexisted peacefully for a remarkably long time, said community council president Stephanie Kesler.
But she thinks a happy ending is unlikely.
“We’re a postage stamp neighborhood. To have five bears in a small area with a bunch of people and kids and pets and dogs, even if everybody is on their best behavior -- sadly I think it’s not going to end well for the bears,” she said.
Residents say they first saw a lone adult female bear during the summer of 2013.
The next spring a female with what appeared to be four young cubs showed up, Kesler said.
A litter of four cubs is “not unheard of” in Anchorage, Saalfeld said.
“We’ve had four around town several times,” he said.
In 2014, “(the bears) were on the hill all summer,” she said. “Basically from the beginning of summer all the way to August or September.”
Government Hill -- surrounded by Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the Port of Anchorage and the industrial area along Ship Creek -- attracts wildlife through the open spaces of its neighboring military base, said Saalfeld. The bears that spent last summer on the hill seemed to return to base when natural foods like devil’s club and berries were ripe.
The close-knit neighborhood took steps to make sure people were putting garbage away and being careful with bird feeders and other food sources that could attract bears, Kesler said.
“We’ve tried to be on our best bear behavior,” she said. “We know trash is what really attracts bears.”
Solid Waste Services, the trash pickup service for the neighborhood, doesn’t currently offer bear-proof canisters, Kesler said.
The community council recently passed a resolution asking Solid Waste Services to add bear-resistant trash bins as an option, she said.
“Even though we worked very hard last summer, there were still lots of bear encounters,” Kesler said.
Rogers said the sow last year broke into her Arctic entry and into a freezer, eating frozen vegetables and apple juice before being chased off.
She said she’s afraid to let her kids play outside while the bears are around.
Saalfeld said Fish and Game biologists would investigate any reported changes in behavior by the bears. Black bears get into trouble and may need to removed when they show changes in behavior, he said.
“We rarely see any aggression from black bears."
As always, it’s all about food sources: Securing trash, putting away birdseed and being vigilant about barbecue grills, dog food and other bear enticements will go a long way toward the Government Hill bear family having a shot at a future away from humans, he said.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Trucks begin moving in shifts on ice-plagued Dalton Highway
The Alaska Department of Transportation says the Dalton Highway has been reopened to limited traffic.
The department Sunday announced the road to North Slope oil fields was opened at 8:30 a.m. to 30 northbound trucks carrying what had been identified as the most critical loads.
If an inspection deems the road safe, it will be opened to 30 southbound trucks.
Department officials say they continue to alternate north- and southbound travel in groups between inspections as long as road conditions remain stable.
A 15-mile stretch of the northern end of the road has been impassible for a week because of unprecedented overflow from a river.
The department reports there are 28 people and 26 pieces of equipment working to keep the road open.
One-third of Anchorage fish and game advisory committee resigns in protest
One-third of Anchorage fish and game advisory committee resigns in protest
Several resigning advisory board members expressed frustration about the Alaska Board of Game authorizing Anchorage-area cow moose hunts without support from the committee or complete moose survey information from Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists.
One-third
of the committee that represents the people of Anchorage at the boards
that regulate hunting and fishing in Alaska resigned this week, saying
their advice is consistently ignored.
Six of the Anchorage Fish and Game Advisory Committee’s 17 members resigned Tuesday at an annual meeting. Two members serve as alternates.
The resigning members say the boards regularly disregard advisory recommendations, as evidenced by the game board’s decision last month to ban the use of aircraft to find Dall sheep over committee objections.
Several also expressed frustration about the board authorizing Anchorage-area cow moose hunts without support from the committee or complete moose survey information from Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists.
“The Anchorage Advisory Committee represents the largest population of outdoor enthusiasts, yet our recommendations have no merit with the department,” Michael Klehr, who resigned effective June 30, wrote in his letter. “The most important reason for my resignation is to bring attention to this broken process with expectations of the public opinion getting recognized.”
The other members resigning are Robert Peck, Steve Flory, Mark Franklin Campbell, Sam Albanese and Robert Caywood. Peck and Albanese added caveats that they could rescind their resignation prior to their effective dates.
This week’s exodus is the second mass resignation in less than a year. A group of committee members resigned last fall over concerns centered on conflicts with the Board of Fisheries.
Committee Chairman Joel Doner said he expects the committee will hold an election in October to replace the departing members. Doner said that, while he’s not resigning, he’s also frustrated with the process.
He pointed to the aircraft ban that passed against the wishes of the biggest advisory committees in the state, but also pointed to the Fish Board practice last year of generating a proposal only to pass it minutes later with no public process.
“That’s just not right. It’s wrong,” Doner said. “When we sit and go through all this effort to do the work of an (advisory committee) as a volunteer and then we’re ignored …”
The committees do have authority that extends beyond an advisory role in at least two areas: emergency hunting or fishing closures if biologically necessary and approving cow moose hunts if state biologists say the populations are healthy enough.
The board’s recent action on cow moose hunts near Anchorage infuriated some committee members.
Peck said the Board of Game violated a state statute that requires antlerless hunt approval from the advisory committee with “the majority of the members” living in the unit or subunit involved -- and only after Fish and Game recommends it based on biological evidence.
The Anchorage-area antlerless hunts run from the Knik River to Portage River and include a popular area at the head of Turnagain Arm.
Anchorage is the only committee with the majority of its members in the unit, 14C, Peck wrote in his letter, but the Board of Game relied on an approval from the Susitna advisory committee, which represents residents on the northern edge of the unit.
Other resigning members said Fish and Game failed to provide moose survey data for the areas where the hunts occur. Department of Fish and Game biologists Gino Del Frate and Dave Battle didn’t return calls for comment about issues with the Anchorage-area surveys.
Spraker said he understands the committee’s frustration with Fish and Game doing incomplete moose surveys in the last couple years.
But, he said, Anchorage’s is one of three advisory committees around the state with strong opposition -- primarily led by three members -- to antlerless hunts.
“The 14C cow hunt generates 3-4,000 applications a year,” Spraker said. “The Anchorage AC votes against it. Other ACs realize that they’re representing at least these 3-4,000 individuals that put in for this hunt.”
Spraker also called the aircraft ban on sheep hunters a “good first step” to address complaints about competition among hunters. He said reducing aircraft-based spotting could reduce hunting pressure enough to avoid putting a permit system in place in the future and said he got phone calls from 10 supporters of the ban for every opponent.
“Overall, less than 10 percent of sheep hunters have aircraft and will be impacted,” Spraker said. “Ninety percent of people or thereabouts are benefited by this and not having airplanes surveying sheep during the season when they’re trying to hunt.”
Jack Frost -- a sheep hunter, pilot and Anchorage orthopedic surgeon who’s spent 15 years bringing proposals to the Board of Game -- said the aircraft ban for sheep hunting shows board members aren’t listening and says the issue reflects a larger pattern.
Much of the public testimony opposed the aircraft limit, Frost said, but the board chose to create its own proposal that contradicted the advisory committee opposition.
Frost said many sheep hunters and pilots are concerned that the ban on aerial spotting and hunting will lead to citations for pilots flying low over sheep country en route to camp or just passing over, he said. “There’s a basic disconnect between the general public and the Board of Game. To me, that’s where the story lies.”
Spraker said the board does listen to the public and to advisory committees from around the state. He said some of the tension between the board and the Anchorage committee stems from long-standing personality conflicts.
All three committee members advocating against antlerless hunts are resigning: Caywood, Peck and Steve Flory.
Flory said the hunt risks taking too many cows that stabilize the larger population and the committee wanted more data from Fish and Game before authorizing the hunt.
He served as chairman of the committee before leaving and returned only last October before resigning as of June 15.
“We’re a unique state,” Flory said by phone. “It was very important to have local input on fish and game issues and through some very aggressive tactics, the Board of Game, Board of Fish have pushed the AC out of the system as greatly as they can.”
Six of the Anchorage Fish and Game Advisory Committee’s 17 members resigned Tuesday at an annual meeting. Two members serve as alternates.
The resigning members say the boards regularly disregard advisory recommendations, as evidenced by the game board’s decision last month to ban the use of aircraft to find Dall sheep over committee objections.
Several also expressed frustration about the board authorizing Anchorage-area cow moose hunts without support from the committee or complete moose survey information from Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists.
“The Anchorage Advisory Committee represents the largest population of outdoor enthusiasts, yet our recommendations have no merit with the department,” Michael Klehr, who resigned effective June 30, wrote in his letter. “The most important reason for my resignation is to bring attention to this broken process with expectations of the public opinion getting recognized.”
The other members resigning are Robert Peck, Steve Flory, Mark Franklin Campbell, Sam Albanese and Robert Caywood. Peck and Albanese added caveats that they could rescind their resignation prior to their effective dates.
Second mass resignation in a year
The committee is one of 84 around the state that help the fish and game boards make and revise fishing and hunting regulations. They were created to give local residents a voice in the process, though the boards don't have to take their advice except in a few situations.This week’s exodus is the second mass resignation in less than a year. A group of committee members resigned last fall over concerns centered on conflicts with the Board of Fisheries.
Committee Chairman Joel Doner said he expects the committee will hold an election in October to replace the departing members. Doner said that, while he’s not resigning, he’s also frustrated with the process.
He pointed to the aircraft ban that passed against the wishes of the biggest advisory committees in the state, but also pointed to the Fish Board practice last year of generating a proposal only to pass it minutes later with no public process.
“That’s just not right. It’s wrong,” Doner said. “When we sit and go through all this effort to do the work of an (advisory committee) as a volunteer and then we’re ignored …”
The committees do have authority that extends beyond an advisory role in at least two areas: emergency hunting or fishing closures if biologically necessary and approving cow moose hunts if state biologists say the populations are healthy enough.
The board’s recent action on cow moose hunts near Anchorage infuriated some committee members.
Peck said the Board of Game violated a state statute that requires antlerless hunt approval from the advisory committee with “the majority of the members” living in the unit or subunit involved -- and only after Fish and Game recommends it based on biological evidence.
The Anchorage-area antlerless hunts run from the Knik River to Portage River and include a popular area at the head of Turnagain Arm.
Anchorage is the only committee with the majority of its members in the unit, 14C, Peck wrote in his letter, but the Board of Game relied on an approval from the Susitna advisory committee, which represents residents on the northern edge of the unit.
Other resigning members said Fish and Game failed to provide moose survey data for the areas where the hunts occur. Department of Fish and Game biologists Gino Del Frate and Dave Battle didn’t return calls for comment about issues with the Anchorage-area surveys.
More than 3,000 applicants
Ted Spraker, chairman of the Game Board, said the Anchorage committee has long fought antlerless hunts and the use of the Susitna approval was legal.Spraker said he understands the committee’s frustration with Fish and Game doing incomplete moose surveys in the last couple years.
But, he said, Anchorage’s is one of three advisory committees around the state with strong opposition -- primarily led by three members -- to antlerless hunts.
“The 14C cow hunt generates 3-4,000 applications a year,” Spraker said. “The Anchorage AC votes against it. Other ACs realize that they’re representing at least these 3-4,000 individuals that put in for this hunt.”
Spraker also called the aircraft ban on sheep hunters a “good first step” to address complaints about competition among hunters. He said reducing aircraft-based spotting could reduce hunting pressure enough to avoid putting a permit system in place in the future and said he got phone calls from 10 supporters of the ban for every opponent.
“Overall, less than 10 percent of sheep hunters have aircraft and will be impacted,” Spraker said. “Ninety percent of people or thereabouts are benefited by this and not having airplanes surveying sheep during the season when they’re trying to hunt.”
Jack Frost -- a sheep hunter, pilot and Anchorage orthopedic surgeon who’s spent 15 years bringing proposals to the Board of Game -- said the aircraft ban for sheep hunting shows board members aren’t listening and says the issue reflects a larger pattern.
Much of the public testimony opposed the aircraft limit, Frost said, but the board chose to create its own proposal that contradicted the advisory committee opposition.
Frost said many sheep hunters and pilots are concerned that the ban on aerial spotting and hunting will lead to citations for pilots flying low over sheep country en route to camp or just passing over, he said. “There’s a basic disconnect between the general public and the Board of Game. To me, that’s where the story lies.”
Spraker said the board does listen to the public and to advisory committees from around the state. He said some of the tension between the board and the Anchorage committee stems from long-standing personality conflicts.
All three committee members advocating against antlerless hunts are resigning: Caywood, Peck and Steve Flory.
Flory said the hunt risks taking too many cows that stabilize the larger population and the committee wanted more data from Fish and Game before authorizing the hunt.
He served as chairman of the committee before leaving and returned only last October before resigning as of June 15.
“We’re a unique state,” Flory said by phone. “It was very important to have local input on fish and game issues and through some very aggressive tactics, the Board of Game, Board of Fish have pushed the AC out of the system as greatly as they can.”
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